I have previously blogged about David Ross QC and his quirky personal court book which became a textbook, “Ross on Crime” (now in its 7th edition). Amongst many other blogworthy features, the book has an appendix of latin terms, which I first came across quite by accident. In amongst the entries I found the following:
res gesta
res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself)
res judicata
Robertus avunculus tuus est (Bob’s your uncle)….what!?….
After I got over the initial surprise it caused me to have a quiet chuckle and to make a note to self to turn it into this entry on my blog. I have since done a bit more research on David Ross and discovered that he played didgeridoo, trombone and sousaphone. He was also a keen canoeist and educator and is also the author of an advocacy textbook. Apparently he also loved his latin and he arranged for a sign with “Robertus avumculus tuus est” to be placed on the wall outside his room in John Starke Chambers. Ross QC died on Christmas Eve in 2009. An abridged version of his eulogy is online and makes good holiday reading about an interesting and diverse life in the law.
Creative commons acknowledgment for the photograph.
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